Today in baseball history: January 3

In MLB’s history, more than 23,000 players have officially appeared in a game. 68 of those were born on January 3.

Only six of them totaled 10+ WAR in their careers:

• A.J. Burnett, right-handed pitcher, 28.8

• Darren Daulton, catcher, 22.9

• Gus Suhr, first baseman, 22.3

• Gary Lavelle, left-handed pitcher, 19.0

• Cliff Melton, left-handed pitcher, 15.3

• Sid Hudson, right-handed pitcher, 14.3

Some highlights and events that took place on this day:

1914: The White Sox beat the Giants, 5-4, in an exhibition game held at the Sydney Cricket Ground. It would be 100 years before MLB would return to Australia.

1920: Harry Frazee’s agreement to sell Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $125,000 is announced publicly.

1944: White Sox shortstop Luke Appling, who had won the AL batting title and finished second in MVP voting the prior season, would report to Camp Lee, Virginia. Appling would miss the entire 1944 season serving in the military.

1962: Ground is broken on the land that will become the Astrodome in Houston.

1973: George Steinbrenner leads a group of investors who purchase the New York Yankees from CBS for $10M.

2005: Looking to reach a broader audience in the LA/Anaheim market, the Angels rebrand and will be known moving forward as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The team would revert those changes before the 2016 season.

2022: Fanatics purchases Topps (the producer of MLB-licenced baseball cards) for $500M.